This invention relates to an aquatic vehicle having a hull and a superstructure. The hull includes pressure ridges located below the static water line and the superstructure allows for tandem seating of the crew. During turns the crew members shift their weight into the apex of the turn thus shifting the center of gravity of the vehicle over the pressure ridges allowing for control of the vehicle in the turn. The hull is shaped to allow navigation of shallow waters.
Over the centuries numerous shaped boats have been developed. In the past several decades, recreation vehicles have assumed a significant share of the boat market. Generally these recreation vehicles fall into two classes--power boats and sail boats. In the power boat class there are a variety of uses for which the boats are designed.
For use in fishing and the like, hull design, superstructure design and other similar factors are not as critical as for boats designed for high speed travel. For pulling water skiers and for racing, hull design is extremely critical for both speed and handling. In ski boats, racing boats and the like, many design considerations must be made to properly balance engine size or displacement with hull design. Additionally, because of recent shortages of fossil fuels boat designers no longer have the liberty of increasing speed or performance by simply increasing engine displacement. Fuel economy in recreation vehicles has become a prime consideration in both their design and use.
Currently for water skiing, outboards, stern-drives or water jets are used to propel the boat. The greater majority of these boats are sized to hold a number of occupants or passengers. Unfortunately unless these boats are equipped with a large fuel inefficient engine they are unable to adequately pull a skier out of the water when filled at or near the passenger capacity level. The weight of the passengers slow the boat down beyond the point where it can successfully pull the skier fast enough to lift him out of the water. Therefore, in order to pull a skier the boat has to be loaded below capacity, thus wasting the primary purpose for sizing the boat.
Recently there has been introduced water vehicles which are ridden by a single person and give that person an effect similar to that of skiing. One such vehicle is known under the trade name of a "Jet Ski". While these vehicles are quite exhilarating and thrilling to ride they are not suitable for operation by a child and generally anyone unskilled in the operation of a motorcycle-like vehicle. Further, since they can only be ridden by a single person at a time they cannot be utilized by a family as a group.